Describe the main principles of Systems Theory, and discuss irs advantages and disadvantages in relation to working with families

Running Head : SYSTEMS THEORY

Systems Theory

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Systems Theory

Systems theory has been of significance and thus applied in various subjects . The term system is defined as "a set of elements standing in interrelation among themselves and with the environment (von Bertalanffy , 1975 ,

The term family theory ' consists of two very broad conceptual terms family ' and

theory ' Doherty , Boss , LaRossa , Schumm , and Steinmetz (1993 ) have defined the process of conceptualising as formulating and organizing ideas to understand a particular phenomenon . A theory is the set of interconnected ideas that emerge from this process (p . 20 . The concept of family is harder to explain and can also include elements of shared family tree , close proximity emotional closeness , and cultural definitions . While taking the family as a system , this will elucidate the three dimensions of loneliness via this family systems theory

General systems theory has not only been applied across fields , but it also has penetrated in many subjects , such as the natural sciences mathematics , the social sciences and technology . Some of its main hypotheses also were presented centuries ago by scholars (e .g Aristotle and his dictum "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts . Many "founders " of Systems Theory , most remarkably von Bertalanffy , recognised this multidisciplinary quality and marked GST as a way to merge the sciences (Constantine , 1986 von Bertalanffy , 1968 Whitchurch Constantine , 1993

One result of GST 's multidisciplinary application is the formation and use of multiple labels and names . GST often simply is known as systems theory , but it also is linked to other labels such as cybernetics information theory , family process theory and family systems theory

Systems theory has been applied and significant in several family science areas (e .g , family therapy , communications , family psychology family medicine , family resource management . Undoubtedly the most fundamental contribution of family therapy has been the application of systems theory to the understanding of family life and intimate human behaviour (Walker Akister , 2004

Family systems perspective views family life as the mutual interaction of hierarchically organised human systems . The smallest meaningful psychosocial system is the self , whereas the largest would be community or cultural systems . In between there are sibling , nuclear , marital , and extended family with other systems (Adams R . et al , 2005

The intergenerational family systems theories of Boszormenyi-Nagy (Boszormenyi-Nagy Krasner , 1986 Boszormenyi-Nagy Spark , 1984 Boszormenyi-Nagy Ulrich , 1981 ) and Stierlin (Stierlin , 1974 , 1978 Stierlin , R 'cker-Embden , Wetzel Wirsching , 1980 ) claim that the psychological make-up of the current nuclear family (parents and children ) is associated to the features of the families of origin . The family of origin is the (nuclear ) family in which the parents of the current (nuclear ) family spent their childhood . These theories have been developed in a therapeutic context in which the newly formulated notions have been elaborated as part of therapeutic technique...